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Monday, November 30, 2015

Monday Musing - Pruning

After having recently buried my Grandmother, only a little over
a year after my Dad’s passing, I’m becoming so keenly aware of the fact that
people all around me are hurting. We all do it, push through, fake a smile,
shove back tears and shoulder our burdens in silence. Why? I don’t know.

In gardening I’m constantly amazed at the intricacies of plants,
the root system, growing phases, rest

phases and,
of course, the flowers. Dig a little deeper into the thought and think about
the creator who developed each plant, distinctly different from each other in
countless ways. He makes them grow and flourish, He knows the right amount of
water or drought to send and what bugs need to come along to pollinate. I was
told about a certain kind of flower that has little dots on the inside, really
cute, but those dots are what tells the bees how to pollinate that particular
flower. Isn’t that amazing? What’s more amazing is that the God who, not only
created those miraculous things but keeps everything running in perfect order also
knows my trials. He designed my life, who to bring into it, who to remove,
circumstances, hurt, pain, joy, happiness, love… He cares deeply for me and
everything that makes me, me. He’s put a lot of time and effort into my making.

Go a step further, sometimes the gardener has to prune the
flowers but it makes them grow bigger, with more buds and better foliage.
Flowers don’t have thoughts or souls but what if they resisted the gardeners
pruning, what if, after pruning all they did was look down at what was taken
away… That’s not a very pretty flower.

That’s what I’m doing, I’m looking back at what was taken away
instead of trusting the Master Gardener with my burdens, problems and
heartache. Pruning makes the flower prettier just like trials, borne with
Christ’s help, makes the Christian flourish.